FOUR North-East athletes have been named in the British squad for next month’s Olympic Games.

The BOA today announced the 80 track and field athletes who will compete for Team GB in Rio.

Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman has been selected for the 1,500m, having qualified for the final at London 2012 and won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Sunderland’s Alyson Dixon will make her Olympic debut in the women’s marathon, having secured her spot at the London Marathon earlier this year.

Teesside-based Rabah Yousif will hope to repeat his performance from last year’s World Championships, when he made the final, when he competes in the men’s 400m, while Stockton’s Richard Kilty has made the 4x100m relay squad but missed out on an individual sprinting spot.

Olympic champions Jess Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford will seek to retain their Olympic crowns in Brazil having triumphed on ‘Super Saturday’ at London 2012, with Farah also defending his 5000m title.

London 2012 medallists Christine Ohuruogu, who also won Olympic gold at Beijing 2008, and Robbie Grabarz also return and will again compete in the 400m and high jump respectively, while Jo Pavey is set to compete in her fifth Olympic Games in the 10,000m. Pavey pipped North-Easterner Kate Avery to the final 10,000m place on the team.   

British athletes have enjoyed a successful 12 months in the build-up to Rio 2016 with the team winning seven medals at the Beijing 2015 World Championships. Ennis-Hill, Farah and Rutherford all claimed gold while Shara Proctor took long jump silver and there were bronze medals for the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams.

And just last week, the team took away 16 medals from the European Championships after winning five gold, three silver and eight bronze in Amsterdam.

“Track and field is one of the showpiece sports of an Olympic Games and in these 80 athletes we have a team full of the ability, pedigree and experience to match the spectacle,” said Team GB chef de mission Simon England.

“It’s great to welcome back the household names who lit up London 2012 but I’m also sure the country can look forward to new heroes emerging in the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

“With well over 300 athletes now selected and just over three weeks to go until the start of the Games, Team GB, with an estimated 360 athletes in total, is shaping up to be the most talented team we’ve ever taken to an Olympic Games.”

Ennis-Hill added: “Everything’s coming together now and I’m feeling good. Training over the past few weeks has been going really well and it’s been good to be back in the competitive environment recently. There’s still some time left before Rio to put some work in as well.

“London was an incredible experience and the two journeys to London and Rio have been completely different, which I’ve really enjoyed. If I was able to defend my title in Rio it will certainly be one of my greatest achievements.”